Silicone(is it heavy)

**cosmo** · 01-05-2012, 08:36 AM

i was just wondering are silicone tails heavy. I've heard they are but I'm
not sure.

**Mermaid Lorelei** · 01-05-2012, 12:07 PM

They are heavy indeed. I just finished doing the math for how much silicone my tail is going to take and the thing will likely end up weighing about 60 pounds if I use silicone.

**merboy78xy** · 01-05-2012, 12:31 PM

I've heard the same thing, that silicone tails weigh around 50 lbs... however, I also heard that weight is not horrible to have because a light tail will float, causing the swimmer to be fighting hard to swim submerged. A weighted tail is still buoyant in the water, and loses the "heavy" feel because of the water, yet allows the swimmer to be submerged. I guess it's an actual science tho as to how heavy a tail can be before it starts to drag you down and cause the opposite (and more dangerous) effect: sinking vs. floating

**Mermaid Star** · 01-05-2012, 02:34 PM

I have heard the same thing, That the tail will be heavy out side the water (to the point where it is hard to lift the fluke) but under water it feels weightless. I would love to have a silicone tail, but the materials are so expensive! I will just have to settle for a latex tail for now. I am good with it thought. I would rather mess up on a less expensive material, if I do, until I get the process down. :P

**Mermaid Shelly** · 01-05-2012, 03:12 PM

It really depends on the type of silicone... I believe the cast molded tails are a lot heavier since they are solid silicone. But that also gives them durability, so it might be worth it if you can manage it. My neoprene and silicone tails are 12 lbs, it's about half as heavy as my latex tail

**AlohaMermaid** · 01-11-2012, 05:51 PM

Aloha, my mermaid tail is silicone and it is indeed very heavy, about 50 pounds. So carrying it to the site where I'm swimming isn't fun. I just bought a wheeled case for it to help in transportation.

Fortunately, when swimming, the silicone tails are neutrally bouyant, meaning that they neither sink nor float. They are weightless in the water, and move really well when you undulate.

And if you can get a super stretchy silicone tail, they're really easy to put on . . . almost like putting on a fabric tail, yet you still get the tight fit like you would with a latex or neoprene tail. I like how realistic the silicone scales look, too.

**merboy78xy** · 01-11-2012, 07:52 PM

yeah, that's always been one of my thoughts... I would love to get a very high-elasticity silicone to allow the tail to be very tight fitted around the knees and ankles to prevent wrinkles, yet have enough give and stretch to allow the bending of the same joints.
I'm dyin to get one... sigh

**MermanJesse** · 01-13-2012, 02:17 PM

Merboy, I have just what you are looking for

The silicone tails I have made been around 45 pounds. Could be less depending on the person's size. I do not put in fabric liners either, so it is silicone on skin. The only thing that is not silicone is the mono fin inside the fluke.

This is a video of my first silicone tail.

I use Dragon Skin 10. Which is super stretchy, but will return to it's original shape.

No rolling the tail down to put your feet in. Just fill it with water, reach in and pull the fin straps over your heels, then slide the tail up like a pair of pants.